


And They Were Neighbors!

by SkyrimIsLife



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - No Pennywise, Eddie is bad at feelings, F/M, Henry Bowers Being an Asshole, Homophobia, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Maggie and Went are good parents, Main Pairing is Eddie and Richie, Minor Ben and Bev, Richie is observant and oblivious at the same time, Richie’s parents love him, Slow Burn, Sonia Kaspbrak's A+ Parenting, Teenage Losers Club (IT), first fic, i don’t know how to tag
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:47:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27692339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkyrimIsLife/pseuds/SkyrimIsLife
Summary: This is a, somewhat, coming of age story about a group of friends learning how to live their lives. Did I mention that their school bully is an actual psychopath? Eddie deals with his emotions and the new kid adds a bit of a roller coaster to his life.*Im not really good at summaries, Rip*
Relationships: Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Kudos: 7





	1. Character 1: The New Kid

**Author's Note:**

> *I don’t own It or any of the characters*
> 
> This is my first fic in literal years and I have a full time job the requires a lot of my time. I will try to update as frequently as I can. I hope you all enjoy!
> 
> Side note - It is not rated yet but I may add one later after I figure more of the story out.

Eddie’s mom was leaving to go to the grocery store. She said it will only take about an hour and for him to stay inside and study. Mind you, it’s Saturday. 

“But I was going to hang out at Bill’s today” which is half true, he was going to be with Bill but not at Bill’s. The group hangs out on Mike’s farm in a repurposed shed turned club house. The old club house got flooded and destroyed in a bad storm a year back. Following his mother to the porch Eddie watched as she was trying to leave without acknowledging his statement. It’s been tense between them ever since Eddie found out from his doctor that all his medicine had been placebos and that he wasn’t even sick. 

It was last year around Eddie’s sixteenth birthday and he had been so upset that he cursed at his mother and then ran away to stay at mikes farm for the rest of the day. The losers had all come once Mike had called them to tell them what happened, nobody was happy and they all stayed the night with Eddie. Once Eddie came back his mother was in tears and apologized saying she only wanted to keep her “eddie-bear” safe. He never accepted that apology, he shouldn’t have to. That’s a pretty shitty excuse to lie to your child for sixteen years of his life making him think he was going to die any second. Since then Eddie has felt a lot more free and way less scared of every single thing he comes into contact with. 

“Mom.” Eddie said a bit more firm as she walked swiftly down the front steps. “It’s Saturday and I’m going to Bill’s” Sonia stopped and turned, she locked eyes with her son and sighed. She did promise to stop being so controlling and Eddie was seventeen now. 

“Fine Eddie-Bear but be home for dinner, okay?” She said and then turned and continued for the car. Once she was around on the drivers side she looked up and smiled. “Mommy loves you Eddie-Bear” 

Eddie let a small smile grace his lips “love you mommy” and with that Sonia got in the car and drove off. Only as she left did Eddie look to the house on the left and saw a large moving truck. The house next door had been vacant for almost half a year. The older lady that lived there moved in with her daughter after her husband passed away. They used to babysit Eddie, he would go over when his mother was going out. They were nice and gave him cookies even though he wasn’t allowed. His mother still calls the wife every now and then to make sure she is doing okay. Well, now he is getting new neighbors and he just knows his mother will complain about something sooner or later.

There was a man and women in the back of the truck handing boxes off to a younger boy that looked to be about Eddie’s age. The man in the truck was tall and thin and had almost black hair while the women had curly brown hair and was on the shorter side but thin as well. He could only see the back of the boy but he was tall, thin, and had curly dark hair. A small family, his mom will complain about the boy no doubt. His mother doesn’t really like kids, she only likes her own kid and sometimes Eddie isn’t even sure about that. Eddie realized he was standing on his front porch and just staring at the family of three, he made a move to turn to go inside. He would call Mike and let him know he is good and then the losers would come sweep him off his feet and away from this house. Just before he went to turn the mother noticed him, she smiled and waved at him which caused the man and boy to turn around. A bit startled Eddie smiled and waved back, torn between seeing if they needed help unloading or turning to go call Mike. He decided to be polite, he could almost hear his mother in the back of his head ‘oh Eddie it’s impolite to stare’ and ‘Eddie bear where are your manners’. He slightly shook his head and trotted down the front steps and made his way over to the three. 

“Hi, I’m Eddie I live next door” he stuck his hand out to shake the hand of the boy first, mentally scolding himself since it’s obvious that he lives next door. The boy put the box he was holding down in the truck again and clasped hands with Eddie. 

“Hey, Eddie bear” the kid said with a smirk and Eddie went red with embarrassment and a hint of anger. The mother tsked behind them and got out of the truck. She lightly smacked the back of the boys head causing his thick glasses to slide forward.

“Richie what have I told you about your jokes?” The women asked in a clam but half amused voice and Eddie could see a slight smile on her face. She shook Eddie’s hand next.

“I’m Maggie Tozier and this idiot is my son Richard” she said putting both hands on the boys shoulders then lifted one to gesture behind her. “This is my husband, Wentworth, who is still in the truck and not introducing himself.” She said the last part with a slightly raised tone and half turned to look at the man in question. It seemed like a light bulb went on and he scrambled out of the truck and down to shake Eddie’s hand saying a quick hello. 

“It’s nice to meet you all, do you need any help unloading the truck?” Eddie asked Maggie, since she seemed to be the one in control of the situation. She grinned and waved her hand at him.

“Oh such nice manners. Richie could learn a thing from you.” She chuckled and patted the boy, Richie, on the shoulder as he rolled his eyes. “It’s okay sweetie we don’t need any help. Plus, weren’t you going to hangout with your friends?” Eddie sheepishly smiled, he didn’t realize how loud him and his mother were. The loser do tell him that him and his mother don’t really have inside voices. He’s sure the entire neighborhood heard the fight last year about the placebos. Eddie scowled internally thinking back on it, he doesn’t think he’ll ever forgive her for that. 

“Are you sure? I can call my friends and help until they get here, I really don’t mind.” Maggie took a second to think and looked over to Went who gave a nod after eyeing their son. 

“Okay Eddie if you insist but once your friends are here then off you go, got it?” The smile Maggie had was contagious and Eddie returned it, he liked them already.

“I’ll go call them, I’ll be right back” with that and a nod friend Maggie, Eddie turned and jogged over to his house. He got inside but not before hearing giggles from Maggie and something along the lines of “mom, stop” from Richie. Once inside Eddie called Mike up and let him know he can hang out. Mike said he will come pick him up and that the losers wanted to come for the ride. The rest of the losers usually all ended up at Mike’s before Eddie since he had to deal with his mother first. After Eddie got off the phone he took a moment to take a deep breath and exhaled. He let himself just breath, when he was up close to Richie he realized just how pretty the boy was. Pale skin, dark hair, his cheek bones, that jawline, and his dark eyes. It was like something out of a book, only usually it was a women that they were describing. With a grimace Eddie shook his head, now was not the time to get upset. He took one more breath, composed himself and went to go help his new neighbors. 

About 30 minutes later Eddie was sitting in the back of the moving truck with a lemonade and his legs dangling over the edge. Richie was standing next to him with his own lemonade, leaning against the truck. They got about halfway through the tuck with the four of them working together. Maggie decided to take a break and make them all lemonade. Maggie and Went were on their front porch chatting and laughing. Eddie was a little jealous that Richie had such a nice family but then felt guilty and pushed that thought away. Richie’s voice pulled Eddie from his thoughts and he looked over to the boy next to him. 

“Wow, I’m surprised those Spaghetti arms could lift anything at all!” Richie let out a laugh, Eddie wanted to be mad but something about Richie’s stupid joke made him smile.

“Hey, I’ll have you know that this is all lean muscle!” Eddie protested with a smile and took a sip of his drink. It was true actually, Eddie might look all skinny and wimpy but he’s been on his schools track team since he found out that he didn’t actually have asthma. Turns out Eddie is a pretty good runner and all that practice is a good workout. Richie looked like he was about to say something else but something caught his eye and he turned to look down the street. Eddie turned too and could see a pick up truck fast approaching and knew right away that it was Mike’s. No sooner then a minute later did the truck stop in front of eddies house and Mike honked the horn. Mike’s pick up truck only had two seats in the cab and then there was the bed of the truck. Stan for the most part always sat in the front with Mike, he refused to sit in the back because he said it was “dangerous”. A mop of curly ginger hair popped up from the bed of the truck.

“Oh Eddie-Bear! It’s time to go!” The girl yelled at the house, in the front Mike put his hand up out of the window and tapped the roof of his truck. That caught her attention and she looked over to where Eddie was sitting. Next to him Richie’s shoulders were shaking, Eddie looked over and saw the hand covering his mouth. Richie was laughing at him, of course.

“Yeah Eddie-bear it’s time to go!” Richie said in a higher pitched voice as he looked over to Eddie.

“Oh shut up Tozier.” Eddie tired to scold Richie but his face betrayed him with a smile. He kind of wanted to stay and hang out with Richie some more but his friends were here already and he wasn’t going to ditch them. At this point Went and Maggie had come down to stand next to them and say goodbye to Eddie. Eddie smiled and was getting ready to say goodbye. He looked to Richie and paused. “Uh.. One second” Eddie said before running over to the truck and taking to his friends. Jogging back he smiled and looked to Maggie. “Mrs.Tozier is it okay if Richie comes to hangout with us? If he wants to of course.” He asked Maggie and with the last part looked at Richie who then looked to his mom. Maggie smiled and put her hand on his shoulder.

“If Richie wants to that’s fine, Went and I can finish up and if we can’t we have the truck for another day anyway.” Richie looked from his mom to Eddie with a smile.

“I’d love to hang out Eddie Spaghetti” Richie declared with a smile and a laugh, Eddie faked a frown. 

“Never mind, I take it back” Richie laughed and so did Went and Maggie. Eddie started to back up and motioned for Richie to follow, they waved bye to Richie’s parents and went to the truck. 

When they got to the truck Eddie hopped into the bed where there were three other teens and he looked to Richie. Richie climbed over the side and plopped down next to Eddie and took in the group. There was the ginger haired girl and two boys. The one boy was blonde and on the chubby side, the other was brunette and lanky. The girl stuck her hand out first with a crooked smile.

“Hi, I’m Beverly Marsh but please call me Bev.” Richie took her hand and smiled.

“Tozier, Richie Tozier but please call me Trashmouth.” Eddie looked to Richie at that and raised an eyebrow. Richie noticed and turned his head with a smirk. “Oh just wait Spaghetti, you’ll see... or hear?” Richie said with a laugh and turned to the blonde boy who shook his hand next.

“I’m Ben Hanscom” Ben said with a small smile and then the last kid took Richie’s hand to shake.

“Bill Denbrough, N-n-nice to m-meet you.” Bill stuttered out half smiling and half frowning. Richie turned to look at the front of the truck and then back to Eddie.

“Mike Hanlon is the guy driving and then Stan Uris is in the passenger seat.” Eddie said and gestured with his hand to the two people in the front. Bev leaned back over the side to yell at Stan.

“Yeah because he’s too good for us!” She yelled to his opened window to which he stuck his arm out and flipped her off in response. The group laughed and Richie smiled as he looked around. This group seemed like fun people. He did his best to hide the part of him that was feeling a bit awkward in this group of close friends. As mike drove he watched the group interact. It was obvious already that the blonde boy, Ben, had a crush on Bev. Richie wasn’t the best and picking up on things but it was just so obvious he was sure everyone including Bev already figured that one out. 

Bill was harder to read he didn’t give much away but seemed to really love his younger brother, he was telling Eddie about something his brother was working on in school. The smile never left Bill’s face as he spoke. 

Bev seemed so care free and fun, but Richie thought he saw and hint of something sad behind her eyes. 

Richie side eyed Eddie, he couldn’t get a good read on Eddie. If he had to choose so far Eddie and Bill were the hardest to read, but again Richie’s observational skills really lacked. The dark haired boy looked up as the topic moved to what movie the group should watch when they get back to Mike’s. Ben wanted to watch a romantic comedy that Bill quickly shot down. Bev suggested a horror movie about a killer clown that eats children, Eddie and Ben voiced their disapproval at the same time.

“Come on guys it’s just a movie” Bev said slyly with a smirk on her face. “What about you rich, what do you think” she said turning with a lopsided grin to look at Richie. Shaking his head slightly he put his hands up in surrender.

“Don’t drag me into this Red. I’m fine with whatever the group decides.” 

“Well, we should wait until Mike and Stan can put in their votes” Eddie said quickly before anyone could suggest another movie. This seemed to end the discussion as the others nodded. The topic once again changed, this time to when Richie was starting at their school. 

“I’m starting next week.” Richie said and then grinned. “My mom said I could start the week after but Im eager to see all the hot babes”. Richie said with a wink towards Bev that earned a quiet huff from Eddie as Bev laughed.

“Oh I bet Greta will have a field day when she sees you” Bev chuckled out and Richie saw the groups expression morph into something horrified. Richie opened his mouth to continue the conversation but Eddie quickly cut him off. 

“What’s your schedule like Richie?” Eddie said almost too fast for Richie to compute. He blinked a few times and then grinned.

“Well I don’t have it on me and I haven’t memorized it” Richie started “I’ve only looked at it like once, honestly I may have lost it” he finished with a chuckle and Eddie looked disgusted. 

“You lost your schedule!?” He scolded and Richie huffed out an amused breath, Bev cut in. 

“Oh wrong thing to say Rich.” Bev said in a mock somber voice knocking her hand knuckle Richie’s ankle. “Our Eddie-bear here is a bit of a stickler for order and organization” she finished and lifted her hand to gesture at Eddie who wore a displeased expression. This earned an indignant huff from Eddie and he started a quick paced rant about organization. As Eddie continued his tangent Richie looked around to the group. They all looked slightly fond and a bit exasperated at the same time as they watched Eddie go off. This is definitely not the first time this has happened. From the front of the truck Stan turned the radio up so the group in the back could hear the music. After Eddie calmed down the rest of the ride went by in a flurry of music and laughter.


	2. Hey Neighbor!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter! 
> 
> *I do not own IT or any of the characters*

They pulled up to Mike’s farm and parked next to two other cars. One was Stan’s and the other was Bill’s. Stan and Ben lived near each other and would take turns picking the other up. Bill would pick up Bev from her apartment since he didn’t mind going out of his way. Ben didn’t mind either, but Bill had offered before he got the chance. Eddie was always picked up last, usually by Mike but sometimes one of the other losers would drive to get him. Bev and Eddie’s controlling parents wouldn’t let them drive, so they had to rely on the others for rides. It’s annoying but Eddie’s mom is scared he’ll crash and Bev’s dad doesn’t trust her with a car. 

The group in the back all clambered out as Mike turned the car off. Stan got out of the front and went around to the group and Richie, Mike followed close behind. Richie looked up as Stan approached taking in his straight posture and curly brown hair. Sticking his hand out Richie smiled, Stan looked down and took the offered hand.

“Names Richie.” 

“Stanley Uris.” Stan said in a neutral tone, he let go of Richie’s hand so that Mike could come forward to take it. 

“I’m Mike, nice to meet you.” Richie nodded and they unclasped hands. Richie took a few steps back and looked around. The house to the right was a small farm house with two sheds in the back. There was a barn to their left and Richie could hear what sounded like sheep. Mike had started walking to the back of the house towards the shed.

“Oh, is this the part where you guys kill me?” Richie let out a laugh and looked to Eddie who started walking. 

“If we wanted to kill you we would have taken you to the quarry and made it look like an accident.” Eddie said with a grin. “But no, the shed on the left is a sort of club house for us.”He gestured towards the shed that looked a lot less beat up. “Mike’s uncle built it for us after our old club house got flooded out.” Richie nodded at this and looked forward. They reached the shed and Mike unlocked the door and pulled it open. Richie didn’t know what he was expecting but he didn’t think this was it. It wasn’t fancy but it was a lot more put together then he would have guessed. He took in the tan carpet and the white walls, there was a small TV set up on a stand and a couch against the wall. There was a wood coffee table in front of the couch and a large beanbag chair on the right of the couch. There was also a small table and two chairs pushed into the left corner, a space heater as well as a fan were in the back right corner. 

“It definitely did not look like this at first” Bev said as she walked past Richie to go inside. She walked over to the couch and sat on the right side to lean on the arm rest. The rest of the group piled in as well. Ben took the middle of the couch and Bill took the left with the arm rest. Stan and Mike took the two chairs at the table and Eddie plopped down in the beanbag chair. Richie closed the door behind him as he stepped in. Since it was almost half way through the school year it was starting to get warmer and the air inside was a bit stale. Mike must have thought the same thing because he got up after a second, opened a small window and turned the fan in the corner on. Eddie looked up at Richie then looked around and let out a low hum. 

“We are gonna need to get another spot for Richie to sit” he thought out loud and got some nods of acknowledgment. Richie was a bit touched that they thought he’d be hanging out with them enough to need a spot of his own. Richie grinned and looked at Eddie.

“Why are you talking about Eds?” Richie said as he started towards the boy. “There is plenty of room right there” he finished with a gesture at Eddie’s spot and then flopped down almost on top of him. Eddie scowled and tried to readjust himself on the beanbag shoving Richie to the side.

“Don’t call me that” he huffed out as he struggled, Richie was not budging. “There is not enough room you animal” there was, but Eddie wasn’t going to say that out loud. At this point everyone was laughing at the two, Eddie stopped his protests and let Richie relax into the beanbag. There was just enough room for them both to fit but they were pressed close together, there sides touching all the way to their knees. Inside Eddie was freaking out slightly, very much aware of the nonexistent gap between them. Eddie was pulled out of his internal freak out by Bev, once again bringing up the movie situation. 

“Okay Eddie, now that everyone is here to vote, lets talk about movies” she said with a grin and looked from Eddie to the rest of the group. This earned nods of approval and the group started going back and forth with suggestions. They eventually settled on a slasher film much to Eddies dismay, its not that he hates horror movies he just doesn’t like all the blood and gore. He planned to read the comics the group keeps under the coffee table while the rest of them watch the movie. 

The movie was just starting as Eddie whipped out a random issue of one of the many comics. A few minutes into reading he felt Richie shift next to him and turned slightly to look. Richie wasn’t watching the movie, instead he seemed to be reading over Eddie’s shoulder. Richie looked over at Eddie and smiled not saying anything, most likely not wanting to talk during the movie. Eddie’s chest tightened a little and he smiled back, turning back to his comic he kept reading. He angled the comic a little more towards Richie to make it easier for him to read. At one point they paused the movie so Mike could go use the bathroom, Bev stood up and took out a pack of cigarettes. Richie got up as well and Eddie’s balance in the beanbag was thrown off causing him to lean to one side. He looked up at Richie who took out his own pack of cigarettes, wiggled them with a grin and followed Bev outside. 

“You know those things will kill you” Eddie called to Richie and Bev, Bev winked at him and Richie laughed.

“Don’t get my hopes up, Eds” with that Richie was fully out the door. Eddie rolled his eyes at the now closed door and put the comic down. He figured he would wait for Richie to get back and not go ahead without him. Once the three other teens returned the group continued the movie. The rest of the movie passed much the same as the first half. Richie and Eddie continued reading comics. Richie never made a move to grab one for himself, he seemed content to read over Eddie’s shoulder.

Once the movie was finished Mike turned on a small radio that was on the table. The volume was low and easy to tune out if you weren’t paying attention. Bev was fiddling with her hands and looked up towards Eddie and Richie. 

“So Richie, why the move to Darry?” Looking up at her Richie grinned. Eddie shut the comic he had open and returned it to the stack under the table. 

“Well Red, if you must know..” Richie trailed off to look around at the group. “I got kicked out for banging my teacher” the group took a minute to look around at each other, Eddie shuffled his feet on the carpet. After a minute of silence Bev laughed and hit Richie on the shoulder.

“Be serious! That’s not even a funny joke” Bev said even though she was giggling. Richie looked up at her and let out a huff of indignation.

“You think I’d joke about that!?” Richie asked with a large grin. After a moment he put his hands up and shook his head. “Okay, okay. Nah, we moved so my dad could open his own dentist office” 

“That’s cool. Were you for or against the move?” Ben asked from his spot in between Bill and Bev. 

“I didn’t care all that much. The people at my old school sucked anyway.” Richie said and picked at his finger nails. He pushed his glasses up from where they slid forward on his nose. Bill made a noise of disapproval and Richie looked up at him. 

“Sorry t-to disappoint R-Richie, but the p-p-people here are p-probably worse.” Bill said with a frown and the others in the group nodded and Stan spoke up.

“Bowers and his friends are the worst.” Stan said with a bit of venom then winced slightly and let his gaze flick to Eddie for a second.

“Who is Bowers?” Richie asked as he looked around the group. His eyes stopped on Eddie’s face and they locked eyes.

“It doesn’t matter. Surprisingly he graduated last year so he’s not at school anymore” Eddie started and then got up from the beanbag. He walked a few paces and turned once he was in front of the TV. He put one hand on his hip and the other one up to gesture, Richie noted that Eddie talks with his hands a lot. “If you see a blonde boy with a shitty mullet just walk the other way.” He finished and looked to the clock on the wall. “It’s getting late I need to head out.”

Stan stood from the chair he was in and walked over to Eddie, he put his hand on the boys shoulder. 

“I can take you back Eddie. I promised to eat with my parents tonight, so I should get going too.” Stan looked over to Richie as the dark haired boy stood. “I can take you too Richie.” Richie smiled and Eddie walked to the door and out of the shed. With a grimace Richie looked around the group. 

“Did I say something wrong?” He asked, the awkwardness he felt earlier returned. Richie just met Eddie and these people and he didn’t want to ruin it. Richie isn’t the best with people and he definitely has a tendency to put his foot in his mouth. Bev shook her head and let a small smile appear on her face.

“No Rich, Eddie just has a bad history with Bowers.” Bev stood and grabbed her cigarettes and walked over toward the door, she turned back and looked to Richie. “It not really for us to share but it’s not your fault Rich.” She finished and left the shed, Stan started after her waving goodbye to his friends. Richie went to follow as well, he said quick goodbyes and Mike let him know he was welcome to come back anytime. When Richie walked out Stan was next to the door, waiting for Richie. 

“That’s on me. I shouldn’t have brought it up.” Stan stated and shook his head as if to end the conversation before it started. Looking over to where the cars were parked Richie saw Bev and Eddie. Bev’s arm was around Eddie as she rubbed circles on his back. Her head was on his shoulder and her face angled to his ear, she seemed to be saying something to him. 

Stan side eyed Richie and looked down to see him clench and unclench his hands. Looking back up he locked eyes with Richie, Stan gave him a small smile and nodded to the cars. Stan started towards the cars and Richie followed behind him a few paces. 

Once they reached the car, Bev parted from Eddie with a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek. Eddie looked slightly upset but it didn’t seem like he was at the point of crying. Stan went around and unlocked the car and Eddie slid into the front seat. Richie got into the back seat behind Eddie, Bev waved goodbye as they drove off. 

The drive back to their street was mostly silent except for the music from the car’s radio. When they pulled up to Eddie’s house the truck that was in front of Richie’s was nowhere to be seen. Eddie and Richie got out after a quick ‘goodbye’ and ‘thank you’ to Stan. 

Eddie’s mom was obviously home at this point and most likely watching him through the living room window. He turned to face Richie, the ride over let him calm down a bit. 

“Sorry about earlier, it was nothing you did. It’s just..” Eddie trailed off and let his gaze move from Richie’s eyes to the ground. 

“Hey, it’s okay Spaghetti! You don’t need to explain yourself to me!” Richie reassured, he placed his hands on Eddie’s shoulders and gave him a playful shake. Eddie looked up, because of course Richie was taller then him, and smiled.

“Thanks Richie” Eddie said and then looked the the left at his house, he saw movement at the living room window. Groaning Eddie shook his head and frowned, Richie raised his eyebrows at this. “My mom.. she was watching us... She’s a bit paranoid.” He said and gestures towards his house. 

“Rough, but it’s all good! Go have fun with that.” Richie laughed out and let his hands drop from Eddie’s shoulders. Richie held his fist out to Eddie who grinned, they knocked their fists together. Richie took off towards his house with a wave. Eddie turned and walked across his lawn, up the steps, and into his house.

When Eddie entered his house he could hear the TV going in the living room. His mom would be sitting in her recliner watching game shows and he’d rather not talk to her. Eddie walked as fast as possible to the stairs but was not fast enough. 

“Eddie-Bear?” His mother called from the living room, Eddie had one foot on the bottom step. He took his foot off and turn to look at his mother. 

“Yeah?” He questioned and she raised her eyebrows at him. Eddie internally grimaced, she gestured towards the front window.

“Who was that boy?” She asked, he didn’t like the tone she used to say ‘that boy’. She hadn’t even met Richie but he could tell she already didn’t like him. He wanted to roll his eyes but kept it in, he knew this was going to happen the moment he saw Richie.

“That was Richie. Him and his parents just moved in today.” Eddie said and grabbed the railing, his mother looked like she was ready to say something else but Eddie cut her off. “Well, I’m gonna go study. I’ll be down for dinner.” He said quickly and raced up the steps, he could hear his mother make a noise of disapproval but she didn’t yell for him to come back. 

Eddie sighed as he reached is bedroom door, he pushed it open and slipped inside. He closed the door behind him and bent down to take his shoes off. After he put them in their spot he walked over the his curtains and threw them open. Eddie was startled to see Richie leaning out of the window directly across from his, cigarette in hand and mouth open. Richie seemed to be as startled as Eddie. Their faces broke into grins and after a few seconds they broke into loud laughter. Eddie slid his window open and leaned on the frame, Richie waved his hand. 

“Hey neighbor!” Ritchie called over to Eddie with a smile, he put his elbows on his window frame and rested his chin in one hand. Eddie smiled back and with a laugh called back over to Richie. 

“Hey neighbor!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for any typos or errors. I look over it the best I can before I post.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I hoped you liked it!


End file.
